Snertingdal

Snertingdal is a former municipality in the old Oppland county, Norway. The 220 km2 municipality existed from 1910 until its dissolution in 1964. The area is now part of Gjøvik Municipality in the traditional district of Vestoppland. The administrative centre was the village of Seegård.

History
The municipality of Snertingdal was established on 1 January 1910 when the municipality of Biri was divided in half. The western part (population: 2,028) became Snertingdal Municipality and the eastern part (population: 2,815) continued as Biri Municipality.

During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1964, the municipality of Snertingdal (population: 2,471) was merged with the town of Gjøvik (population: 8,251), the municipality of Biri (population: 3,274), and most of the municipality of Vardal (population: (9,612) to create a new Gjøvik Municipality with 23,608 residents.

Name
The municipality is named after the Snertingdalen valley (Snartheimsdalr) which runs through the municipality. The first element of the valley name is Snartheimr which comes from the old "Snartum" farm and church site in the valley. The farm name is likely derived from an old river name with the suffix which means "home". The last element of the valley name is which means "valley" or "dale".

Historically, the name of the municipality was spelled Snertingdalen. On 3 November 1917, a royal resolution changed the spelling of the name of the municipality to Snertingdal, removing the definite form ending -en.

Government
While it existed, this municipality was responsible for primary education (through 10th grade), outpatient health services, senior citizen services, unemployment, social services, zoning, economic development, and municipal roads. During its existence, this municipality was governed by a municipal council of directly elected representatives. The mayor was indirectly elected by a vote of the municipal council.

Mayors
The mayors of Snertingdal:


 * 1910-1910: Kristian Oudenstad
 * 1911-1913: Kristian Markeng
 * 1914-1916: Kristian Oudenstad
 * 1917-1928: Anton E. Haugen (AD)
 * 1929-1931: Johannes Kirkerud (Bp)
 * 1932-1938: Lars Ødegårdstuen (RF)
 * 1938-1940: Anders Tandberg (Ap)
 * 1945-1963: Anders Tandberg (Ap)

Municipal council
The municipal council (Herredsstyre) of Snertingdal was made up of 17 representatives that were elected to four year terms. The party breakdown of the final municipal council was as follows: